Katherine Kane (Prime Earth)
, North Carolina to Brussels, Belgium, where they worked with NATO. However, when Gabi decided to take the girls out for their twelfth birthday, they were attacked and kidnapped by terrorists. Though military intelligence managed to locate the hostages, Jacob only managed to rescue Kate, as both Gabi and Beth had been killed. He tried to prevent her from seeing the worst of it, but Kate was traumatized by the sight of her mother and sister's corpses. Jacob was a supportive father, and Kate managed to deal with her grief by emulating his cool-headedness. She excelled in school, and eventually was accepted into West Point as a cadet. She continued to excel at the Academy, eventually earning the rank of Brigade Executive Officer, as well as completing both Air Assault School and the U.S. Army Airborne School and earning prestigious awards like the RECONDO badge and the Superintendent's Award for Excellence. She also began a romantic relationship with Sophie Moore, a fellow cadet. Shortly after of Kate's final year at the Academy, she was anonymously accused of homosexual conduct. Though given the chance to stay at the Academy and accept a demotion, Kate instead chose to come out as a lesbian in order to prevent a further investigation and protect Sophie, and was expelled under . The Lost Year After her expulsion from West Point, Kate medicated her depression with alcohol and promiscuity. She decided to travel the world in an attempt to 'find herself' and establish a life outside of the military. During her travels, Kate hit her head on a rock while diving, knocking her unconscious. She wound up on the island of Coryana, off the coast of Malta, and was rescued by the ceremonial leader of the island, a woman called Safiyah. Kate and Safiyah quickly struck up a romance, leading most of the population of the island to dislike Kate for distracting their leader from her duties. Safiyah's lover Tahani was particularly resentful of Kate and attempted to kill her on one occasion. Unbeknownst to Kate, her head wound had been infected with a deadly bacterium that grew in the surrounding ocean reefs. The bacteria began killing the island's native foxes. Due to the bacterium's easy availability, Kate suspected that one of Coryana's warlords had introduced the bacteria in a malicious attack on the island as a way to punish Safiyah for her relationship with Kate. Safiyah accused Maksim, a rogue and troublesome warlord, for the attack, had him executed, though Kate begged her to spare his life. When Kate realized her infection was the real cause, Safiyah told her that she had known all along and sought to save Kate from the reaction of the island's populace if they were to find out. Kate was disgusted at Safiyah's willingness to kill an innocent man and left the island after coming to blows with Safiyah and Tahani. Becoming Batwoman Kate returned to Gotham City, where she continued her wild lifestyle. One night, Renee Montoya pulled her over for speeding, and Kate managed to charm her way into a relationship with her. Kate and Renee briefly dated before having a sudden breakup. After a night of drowning her sorrows from this loss, Kate was attacked by a mugger in an alley next to Molly's Bar. She fought the man off and was about to harm him more when Batman appeared. Seeing him in person made Kate realize that she felt alive when she was fighting crime, and that vigilantism could be her new purpose in life. Using stolen military equipment purchased off the black market, Kate operated as a vigilante for approximately a year before Jacob discovered what she was doing. Though he was initially angry with her, he agreed to support her mission after she convinced him of her dedication; this included organizing an intense training program to hone her skills, conducted by several of Jacob's former special forces comrades. Kate spent the next three years undergoing fierce training regimens and exposing herself to the worst that the world had to offer. At the end of the third year, Jake gave her one last mission: rescuing a family kidnapped by Russian terrorists and held in the abandoned city of . When she found the family, they had already been murdered, and in a rage, she nearly killed the terrorist leader. However, she relented at the last second, and the leader revealed himself as her father. The whole hostage situation had been a ruse, using fake bodies and weapons; it served as a test to prove that she could stop herself from crossing the line and not kill in anger. After that, she was ready to become Batwoman. Elegy Batwoman began investigating the arrival of a new leader of the Religion of Crime in Gotham. She briefly met Batman to discuss her findings. Kate demonstrated greater knowledge of the Religion of Crime, and even corrected Batman by saying there were 13 and not 12 covens of the Religion in Gotham. Batman conceded the case to her. The thirteen covens of the Religion of Crime were revived by a new leader named Alice, whose propensity for quoting Alice in Wonderland belied a sinister and callous disregard for human life, and a persistent obsession with Batwoman herself. In an attempt to get answers, Kate dangled the woman over the edge of a rooftop, but rather than give up answers, Alice spat a poisoned razor-blade into Kate's face, causing hallucinations. Kate was saved by Kyle Abbot and a new sect of the Religion of Crime, who rejected the assumption that Batwoman was central to their doctrine. After recovering, rather than immediately seek revenge, Kate went to a charity ball for the Gotham City Police Department, where she met and began a relationship with Margaret Sawyer, head of the Major Crimes Unit. They were interrupted by Abbot, who revealed in private that Alice intended to destroy Gotham by stealing military grade firepower. Given that her father had had to leave the party in order to investigate an emergency on base, Kate realized too late that the Religion of Crime was behind it. Alice had captured her father. With Abbot's help, Batwoman managed to board the plane from which Alice planned to unleash a toxic gas onto the city. In the fight that ensued, Alice was nearly knocked out of the plane, but Kate caught her by the hand. In a moment of uncharacteristic coherence, Alice looked up at Kate and stated "You have our father's eyes," before plunging a dagger into Kate's arm. In pain, Kate let go, and watched Alice fall to her death as the realization dawned on her that her twin sister Beth had not died all those years ago. As soon as she had regained her sister, she had lost her - and her father Jacob had betrayed her. Hydrology When a series of kidnappings and drownings in Gotham's Latino community pointed to the urban legend of a ghost called the Weeping Woman, both Batwoman and Detective Maggie Sawyer began investigating the case separately. While Maggie learned of the origins of the ghost and dealt with the pressures of grieving parents, Kate was faced with reluctantly training her cousin Bette and dodging her questions about her deteriorating relationship with her father. After eavesdropping on one of Maggie's meetings, Kate learned of the location of the latest crime scene. Upon arriving, though, she was accosted by Batman, who offered her a position in Batman, Inc., which she declined. All the while, the DEO had sent Agent Cameron Chase to determine Batwoman's identity, and through her, learn Batman's. She suspected Maggie, initially, but when Maggie caught Batwoman stealing files from her office, she gave her location up to Chase. From the files, Kate sourced the legend of the Weeping Woman to a boathouse, where she was dragged under water by the apparently real spirit. She managed to escape both the spirit and Chase, but the experience led her to decide to stop training Bette, prompting her cousin to go it alone, where Chase was then free to question her. Before Chase could get to her, though, Bette was attacked by a meta with a hook for a hand, who tore open her gut. Unaware, Batwoman learned that the Weeping Woman had been an alcoholic mother named Maria Salvaje, whose children drowned at the boathouse due to her neglect, and she later drowned herself as a result of the guilt. Chase, meanwhile, used Bette's desperate condition to trick her into revealing Kate as her next of kin. Returning to the boathouse, Batwoman set the boathouse on fire, to counter the ghost's water magic. As she began to evaporate, Maria revealed that she had been manipulated into becoming a kidnapper by something or someone called Medusa. Upon her return home, Kate found Chase and Director Bones waiting for her with a deal that they would show her to Bette's location if she would agree to help them take down Medusa. Despite a warning from Batman, Kate agreed, promising herself and the parents of the missing children that she would find them. Knightfall Descends Now working for the DEO, one of Kate's minor missions involved arresting Detective Melody McKenna for corruption. While attempting to do so, she attacked both McKenna and Batgirl, easily neutralizing both of them. However, Batgirl convinced Batwoman to help them take down Knightfall and rescue Ricky, a young man taken hostage by Knightfall and the Disgraced. Batwoman and McKenna were able to take down the Disgraced while Batgirl fought Knightfall. To Drown the World While on a date with Maggie, Kate realized she was being followed by Kyle Abbot, who informed her that Medusa was being led by a warrior with magical powers named Falchion. Under Falchion's leadership, Medusa manipulated Gotham's 'monsters' into serving them. Batwoman was ordered by Chase to release Sune Ito, the sister of Falchion's second-in-command, Maro. Sune had been captured by the GCPD, and the DEO wanted her in hopes that she could be persuaded to work with them to bring the group down. During Sune's extraction, Maggie got the drop on Kate and accidentally received an injection of a fear toxin cocktail intended for Sune when Kate instinctively retaliated. Despite this, the mission was a success; Sune was liberated and agreed to assist the DEO. She informed Batwoman and Cameron that Medusa's base was located in an underwater lair beneath Gotham Harbor, but did not know how it was accessed. Kate and Sune went undercover at a party on Falchion's private yacht to investigate further, and discovered documents that showed how to access the lair. Batwoman tracked down Falchion and began fighting his army of monsters with the help of state-of-the-art technology from the DEO, however she was forced to surrender when Falchion held a blade to the throat of one of the kidnapped children. However, Sune emerged from the shadows and shot Falchion with an enchanted arrow. A fight ensued, and Sune was injured by Falchion. Batwoman managed to quickly restrain him using the DEO's tech, saving Sune's life. Sune quickly recovered from her injury and attempted to kill Falchion, but Batwoman prevented her from doing so. Sune berated Batwoman and revealed her true identity: Maro Ito, Falchion's warlock. Maro had used his magical powers to shapeshift and take the form of his sister Sune, and had been impersonating her all along, while at the same time hatching his own plan to usurp control of Medusa for himself. Maro killed Falchion and retreated with the kidnapped children in a portal, telling Batwoman that the next time she saw him, he would be at the head of an army. Batwoman and the newly-arrived Cameron Chase were left with Killer Croc and the Weeping Woman, who had been ordered by Maro to kill them, and they narrowly escaped with their lives. Despite her setbacks, Batwoman remained determined to rescue the children. World's Finest Batwoman found herself at a standstill, with no leads to follow and no way of tracking down Medusa. She interrogated Bloody Mary, one of the former members, who informed her that Medusa was not merely an organization, but the legendary Gorgon from Greek mythology herself. Batwoman turned to the one person that could handle such a threat: Wonder Woman. Together, they ventured to the prison underneath Themyscira where Medusa had been held, but found only Nyx, the Goddess of Night. Nyx attempted to smother them in darkness, but they managed to escape after Batwoman blinded the goddess with a torch. The two heroes tracked down Pegasus, a son of Medusa and Falchion's brother, who had been tortured by Falchion after he refused to join Medusa. He offered to reveal the location of the children, if Wonder Woman would agree to end his suffering and kill him. She reluctantly agreed, and he revealed that Medusa was located in the "dark heart of the world" - Gotham. Kate was infuriated that she hadn't realized her target was underneath her nose all along. Wonder Woman offered to return to Gotham with Batwoman, end Medusa for good and rescue the missing children. During her absence, Gotham had been overrun by Medusa's army of human followers and monsters alike. Maggie and the rest of the GCPD, along with the D.E.O., attempted to fight off Medusa's forces. Just as the children were being led to Medusa herself, Batwoman and Wonder Woman arrived. Kate watched as the Hydra destroyed her home. While Wonder Woman slew the Hydra, the amount of blood spilled allowed Medusa to successfully resurrect her mother Ceto, the Mother of Monsters, who took the form of a hideous creature. Medusa intended to sacrifice the kidnapped children to bind her mother's spirit to Earth. Batwoman managed to kill Medusa, turning her into stone by using a mirror to reflect her gaze back towards her. With Medusa's death, her spell on Gotham was broken. Ceto reverted to the form of a human woman and left Gotham with Wonder Woman, who bid Batwoman farewell with a mutual pact to work together again if needed. The children were returned to their families unharmed. Afterwards, Batwoman approached Maggie, revealed her secret identity, and asked Maggie to marry her. This Blood is Thick Along with their engagement, Kate and Maggie moved into a new apartment, and Kate began to test the limits of her DEO servitude by sabotaging some of her own missions to prevent them from getting complete intel. She was also briefly targeted for assassination by remnants of Medusa's forces who sought revenge. One of these self-sabotage attempts involved antagonizing Batman by destroying a piece of Mr. Freeze's tech wanted by both him and the DEO. Bette, now working alongside Kate as Hawkfire, began to become suspicious of Kate's actions, knowing there was more to things than met the eye. When Kate was reluctant to explain the situation to her, Bette secretly bugged Kate's suit with a microphone to get answers. Just before the bugging, Kate and Bette took down Shard, who had attacked several DEO agents for, as she put it, "stealing from the Religion of Crime." Batman & Robin Eternal Batgirl personally recruited Batwoman to help destroy Mother's global array of mind-control broadcast antennas that had affected the world's children; Kate was responsible for destroying the one based in Dubai, UAE. After destroying the antenna, Batwoman assisted the rest of the assembled heroes in mopping up Mother's forces in her Arctic base. Founding the Gotham Knights Batman later approached Kate after a mysterious group called The Colony, led by Kate’s father Jacob Kane, began hunting down Gotham's heroes. He revealed his identity to her (though Kate had already worked out he was her cousin Bruce Wayne), and the two worked together to lead a "boot camp" for young heroes, consisting of Red Robin, Orphan, Spoiler and Clayface. Mother Panic Batwoman was the first vigilante to interact with Mother Panic; unbeknownst to either of them, they knew each other in civilian life, sharing a past that Kate was "still mad" about. After a brief scuffle during their initial encounter, Kate followed Violet to a location where criminal artist Gala was keeping kidnapped children as part of an artwork. After Violet rescued the children, Kate offered her compliments, only to be verbally harassed. Kate left with a veiled warning that the rest of the Gotham vigilantes would be watching her. The Many Arms of Death After the Night of the Monster Men, Batman received intel informing him that Monster Venom was being sold on the black market and tasked Batwoman with tracking down the seller. Batwoman was accompanied by Julia Pennyworth, and together they discovered the seller was a terrorist arms-dealing group called The Many Arms of Death. Her search led her to Coryana, the island nation she had washed up on years earlier. On her mission to track down the leaders of the group, Kate was followed by an assassin associated with The Many Arms of Death who referred to herself as Knife. Knife was revealed to be Tahani, the former lover of Coryana's leader Safiyah, whom Kate had also loved during her time on the island. Batwoman and Julia deduced that the Kali Corporation, who had acquired the island of Coryana, was merely a front for The Many Arms of Death. Under the guise of seeking to purchase Safiyah's old bar, the Desert Rose, Kate went to meet Elder and Younger, the twin CEOs of the Kali Corporation, but was attacked by Knife. Together with the warlords of the island, Batwoman forced Knife to retreat and was given ownership of the bar, but entrusted the responsibility of leading the island to one of the warlords, Song Tae-Ree. Colony Service Now functionally barred from operating in Gotham and as Batwoman, Kate finally accepted her father's offer to join the Colony, as that allowed her to continue similar work. Joined by Luke Fox and Jean-Paul Valley, Kate lead the Colony on various missions, including the capture of several Talons with an unprecedented zero troop casualties. She also slightly modified the Colony's standard operating procedure to be less-lethal, only allowing for deadly force as a last resort. Return as Batwoman Following the destruction of the Many Arms of Death, the dissolution of the Colony, and her reconciliation with Bruce, Kate returned to regular duty as Batwoman, now with Beth living in her apartment and Julia helping take care of her. While working a cold case, Kate teams with Renee Montoya, and after the case is closed, the two decide to start seeing each other again. City of Bane/Year of the Villain/Gotham City Monsters Batwoman was out of the country on a mission when she was summoned back to Gotham, along with most of the rest of the Batfamily, by Batgirl, to deal with an unprecedented lighting of a red Batsignal. However, she was at least twelve hours outside the city, and as a result was unable to make it back before Bane and his forces took it over. Likely as a result of this, Kate took up residence in an apartment in Atlanta, and fought crime in that city despite being displaced. Just before Bane's takeover of Gotham, Apex Lex was in the city to make one of his many offers, this time to Roman Sionis, who was in the middle of a police standoff involving Renee. After Sionis escaped the scene and killed two GCPD officers in the process, Renee vowed to hunt him down. Approximately a month later, Renee had tracked Sionis to, coincidentally, Atlanta. There, she met up with Kate and enlisted her help in capturing Sionis. However, despite cornering him, Sionis was able to escape again after wounding Renee and utilizing a new form of facial disguise technology given to him by Apex Lex. Shortly before the final phase of Batman's plan to take back Gotham from Bane, Batwoman returned to the city and became involved with the Gotham City Monsters in their fight against Mr. Melmoth and the Monster League of Evil. Doomsday Clock Kate was part of the massive assembly of heroes that traveled to Mars to confront Doctor Manhattan. | Powers = | Abilities = * : Kate learned Parkour as part of her Batwoman training, and would also have been required to learn similar skills as a cadet. * : Kate is capable of wielding a crossbow with great accuracy. * * : Kate works at an office during her day job, though what exactly this entails is unknown. * * : When she was tasked with unmasking Batman by the DEO, part of Kate's ambush involved setting charges to blow out a section of a roof to fall inward. She also knows how to use detcord. * : Particularly motorcycles. * : Kate's head wound was stitched shut with gold thread, giving her a limited ability to detect strong electromagnetic fields (a similar concept to fillings picking up radio waves). * : On Coryana, Kate helped hunt infected foxes while on horseback. * * : Kate is highly intelligent, reaching the top of her high school class and ranking between the 95th and 99th percentile of her class while attending West Point. Further components of this include training or experience in: ** : Kate is adept in the art of tinkering with things both mechanical and electronic. ** : During her Batwoman training, Kate received education from the FBI. She was also able to deduce Batman's identity based on a handful of clues. ** : Kate was one of the two leaders of the Gotham Knights. ** : Kate has been shown able to identify wounds and how old they are and describe them anatomically, administer stimulants , and perform minor surgery on herself. ** : Kate knows at least a bit of French, Portuguese, Hebrew, and Yiddish. ** : While working with the DEO, Kate enacted an ambush against Batman that successfully resulted in his capture. She can identify certain martial arts forms by watching them (including finding flaws), and has studied the ancient Chinese text Thirty-Six Stratagems. ** : She was able to read footprints in snow at a crime scene well enough to know that only GCPD officers had been there. * : She is quite skilled in gymnastics (having trained in the sport since she was very young), and made it to Senior Elite level during high school, meaning she was qualified for international competition. * : Kate has been able to fight off psychic attacks and various drug trips solely through force of will. * : Batwoman does a lot of physical intimidation and violent interrogation work - though she wouldn't torture or deliberately maim people. * * : Kate received basic hand-to-hand combat training at West Point, then further, more intensive training in various martial arts during her travels around the world. Batman describes the way she fights as "fluid," "efficient," and "precise", and she is capable of using both orthodox and southpaw stances. Even before becoming Batwoman, Kate was skilled enough in unarmed combat to remain effective in a fight after being out-of-practice for a couple years, and, one on occasion, while blackout drunk. Kate has trained in at least 14 different styles, including: ** Modern Army Combatives: A requirement for West Point cadets, MAC is a hybrid of various forms, such as: *** *** *** *** ** : Kate learned how to box from Jacob when she was a teenager. Later, she took boxing at West Point, though this was not a requirement for female cadets during her time there. It's heavily implied that she was a member of the West Point women's boxing club and boxed competitively, including winning a championship match against Sophie Moore sometime before their senior year. ** : Given the general viciousness of Kate's fights, she was most likely trained in the Kyokushin style. ** ** ** : Though not a style in and of itself, Kate has demonstrated many of the component skills of ninjitsu, such as unarmed combat, throwing, stealth, horse riding, tactical analysis, geographical knowledge, espionage, disguise, swords, chain weapons, and use of firearms and explosives. ** ** ** * : She used a word-association form of meditation to figure out how to thwart La Llorona. * : A one-time soldier raised by career soldiers, Kate is quite familiar with military policy, protocol and most aspects of life in the Army. * : Kate is a guitarist who occasionally performs in bars. * : Kate owns or is otherwise familiar with a wide variety of occult, esoteric, and mystical texts. * : As a result of her extremely rigorous training, Kate is now at the upper end of natural human abilities. **'Peak Human Durability': Kate has shrugged off wounds from bladed weapons on numerous occasions, and even survived being stabbed in the heart; she willingly went off of painkillers after a week and was back at home in a month. She has taken full-force blows to the face from Bane and Killer Croc with only superficial damage. **'Peak Human Speed': According to Batman, Kate has a reaction time of 50 milliseconds, which is 6-8 times faster than a human eye can blink. **'Peak Human Strength': Kate is strong enough to shatter stone statues with a single punch, stagger both Bane and Killer Croc, throw and kick larger opponents multiple feet, punch apart military-grade helmets, , and throw enemies through concrete-block walls. * : Kate trained the Gotham Knights. * * : Of the distraction type. * : Kate once infiltrated an airborne military airship without raising alarm, and managed to make it to the bridge and subdue at least three soldiers before she revealed herself. She has also successfully ambushed Batman. * : The final mission of her training required her to figure out guard patrol routes and avoid security cameras. * : As part of her training, Kate crossed the Sahara with no supplies, and had to procure her own food and water along the way. She also backpacked through the Amazon rainforest. * : In addition to required swimming classes at West Point, Kate received underwater combat training and can easily swim while carrying someone of a similar weight as her. * : In addition to more standard weapons, Kate also regularly makes use of improvised weapons like rocks, bottles, fire extinguishers, etc. ** : Kate has a much more lenient attitude toward guns than Bruce does, and has been trained in their use. She can even wield unfamiliar firearms with great accuracy. ** ** | Strength = | Weaknesses = * Low Drug Tolerance: Kate is susceptible to attacks using incapacitating agents like drugs or toxins, especially those of a hallucinogenic nature. Despite weathering many such attacks during her crimefighting career, she seems to have built up no resistance to them, even in general. | Equipment = * Batsuit ** Utility Belt | Transportation = * Red Knight One, a customized Ducati sport motorcycle. * The Sequoia: A Colony vehicle disguised as the Kane family yacht that Kate used as her primary transportation during her global missions with Julia Pennyworth. The outwardly-normal yacht could transform into an airship that more closely resembled other Colony vehicles. * The Kônos: A hypersonic 1-person jet, included as part of the loadout of the Sequoia. | Weapons = * Batarangs: A foldable version shaped like two hinged claws, known as "thorns". * Cryo-Baton: Batwoman's battle staff. * Taser gloves: An upgrade from the DEO, using modified tech from the Electrocutioner. Capable of using the suit's stored power to discharge as a large beam attack. * Flamethrower gloves * Python coil: A lasso-type weapon that constricts and cuts into a victim the more they struggle. * Fear toxin: Carried in canisters in her gauntlets. | Recommended = | Notes = | Trivia = * A number of comics refer to Kate's discharge as "dishonorable". However, this is an error since real-life discharges under DADT were mostly honorable, and nothing about Kate's other conduct would have warranted such a severe penalty. * Kate has a tattoo of the Green Beret sleeve insignia on her right upper arm. It is a match to a tattoo her mother Gabi had. * Kate has a tattoo of the Nautical Star on her upper back, which she had inked sometime after her discharge from the US Military Academy, but before she became a vigilante. Whilst being a common tattoo and having a broad range of symbolism, the Nautical Star tattoo is commonly associated with the US Navy and Marine Corps. During the 1940s it also started to be used by homosexuals (particularly lesbians) to indicate their sexuality in a discreet manner during a time when homosexuality was frowned upon. Since Kate is a lesbian and has military experience, it is unknown which reason she got the tattoo.https://tattoos.lovetoknow.com/Nautical_Star_Tattoos * Kate's third tattoo, a bluebird on her left shoulder, has no apparent meaning behind it. However, it is in the same area as a bullet scar she received during Zero Year , so it may serve to hide it. * Being the heiress of a family whose fortune is comparable to the Waynes', Kate possesses the finances to produce an arsenal of equipment, similar to Batman. * Kate is a fan of , , and . * According to J.H. Williams III, Kate's birthday is March 21.https://twitter.com/JHWilliamsIII/status/250094576898027520?s=19 * Kate's nickname at West Point, possibly due to her participation in boxing, was "Candy", a play on her last name. * Her company at West Point was Company B-2. * Due to sliding timescales/de-aging, the Prime Earth version of Kate was a member of the Class of 2011 at West Point, whereas her New Earth version was in the Class of 2003. * Although she's Jewish, Kate does not follow kosher guidelines. * Kate finds both Wonder Woman and Zatanna attractive. | Links = }} Category:Jews Category:Homosexual Characters Category:Twins Category:Military Characters Category:Gotham Knights members Category:Independently Wealthy